


Nick's Partner

by tigereyes45



Series: Surviving the Commonwealth with Wren [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-28 04:19:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18748888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigereyes45/pseuds/tigereyes45
Summary: Nick has to carefully help Wren as a grenade has blown several bits of metal into her leg. Without thinking she tries to keep running ahead. Her thoughts on the mission. Nick can't allow her to go on like that.





	Nick's Partner

**Author's Note:**

> An idea I had in my head after encountering a stray grenade and a line from Nick as a reaction to it.

When he saw the grenade land Nick knew they were in trouble. He was quick to dodge but saw Wren barely make it out of range. Far enough that it didn’t kill her, but she was still wounded. Somehow she hadn’t called out. Instead, she was biting her bottom lip down so hard that it was bleeding. He mutters, shit, as he helps her sit down.

“Nick, we have to,”

“We have to get your leg looked at first.” Nick insists as he looks over her leg. There were several fragments of metal protruding from her leg. It wasn’t going to be as simple a fix as using a stimpak. He was going to have to remove the fragments before they could close the wounds or use other means. He looks towards Wren with the most sympathetic look he could manage.

“There’s a lot of metal stuck. I have to pull it out. You’ll need something more than your lip to bite down on. ‘Less you want to bite it off.” The joke falls flat as her smile is cut off by a wince from the pain. He ruffles through her bag for a slice of leather. Nick grimaces as he finds only a Yao Guai leather hide.

“Sorry, this was all I could find.”

She takes the leather from him and shoves it into her own mouth. Nodding towards her leg. She was ready and Nick grits his mouth tightly. Slowly he places his metal digits against her pant legs. She flinches back but Nick knows it is from the cold touch of metal through her pant legs rather than just because he was a synth. She had been nothing but kind to him this whole time.

He slowly presses his fingers on either side of the smallest piece. He can feel her tense under him. “I’ll try and make this as painless as possible,” he promises as he starts to pull each piece out. Steady, he reminds himself as her screams are muffled by the leather. She is flesh and bone. Of course, a protrusion of her flesh hurts her. Nick doesn’t know why he had expected her to be quiet during this. Perhaps it is because she rarely said anything during their adventures. Always choosing a strong and silent facade when going out. As she lets out a yelp through the leather. He removes his fingers and corrects himself for going to fast.

“Sorry. Should I go faster, or slower?” He asks as he removes the leather for a moment.

“Faster, get it done with.” She pleads. He gives her back the leather and looks back down. There were three pieces left. Each one was significantly bigger than the others he had pulled free.

As he pulls them out Nick criticizes himself for thinking her silence was a facade. It was rare he met anyone who rarely spoke, but she had been through some drastic situations within the last few days.

She had woken up in a vault after losing her husband and having her baby kidnapped. She had saved the Minutemen, began leading them and made it all the way to Diamond city in two days. Quicker than anyone else he had ever heard of traveling that far. All the while learning about a world that had replaced her own. Her silence most likely wasn’t a facade, but a mask. A mask she used as a way of keeping others from questioning her as she processes this new world.

It could also just be from the trauma. He had some of his own when he ended up in the commonwealth. Though he was pretty deep in denial of the truth for a bit after it all. She so far has been accepting the reality of it all while running headfirst into trouble. Constantly looking for the next clue to finding her little boy. All in all, she was a fiercely protective mother and an even more so dedicated woman. He could admire that about her.

He could admire many things about her.

“All done.” He moves to pull free a stimpak as he drops the last piece of metal. She all but throws the Yao Guai leather away. Tossing it back into the bag without care. She pulls her leg closer to her body and squeezes it tightly. The pressure pushes even more red beaded drops of blood out of her wounds.

“Hey, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Nick warns as he prepares the stimpak. “Squeezin’ it like that is only gonna make you bleed out faster.” He gently presses the stimpak into the skin of her leg through one of the tears in her pant leg.

“Sorry, it looks like I’ll need to get another suit to match yours.” She jokes through a wide smile.

He shakes his head and tries not to laugh. A grenade just blew metal all throughout her leg and she is worried about replacing the suit Ellie had given her to match his own. He had gotten so used to her wearing it by now that he had stopped noticing.

“That should not be at the top of your list of concerns right now.”

She smiles sweetly at him before squeezing both her hands around his free one. “It’s not at the top, but it’s still up there. I would say around the three to four range ranking wise. Definitely after finding my son and helping you take down Winter.”

Nick laughs shyly as he looks away. He throws the not empty stimpak into a large pile of trash next to him. He tips the brim of his hat down to cover his eyes and face. He couldn’t blush anymore because he was a synth but the habit never really went away. When she lets go of his hand he stands and helps her up.

“We should watch more carefully for any more grenades in this area.”

“Got it, partner. Hey Nick,” He looks at her confused. “I’m glad you have my back now. Dogmeat never would have been able to pull those out of my leg.”

“Dogmeat’s smarter then he looks,” Nicks promises already having grown used to having the four-legged companion around with them on their adventures.

She reloads her gun and adjusts her clothes before running ahead again. Silently, lost in his thoughts, Nick follows. Wren was a nice enough lady. Clueless a bit and passionate to a fault about helping others. He would have to watch over her carefully if they were going to survive some of the sketchier parts of the Commonwealth.


End file.
